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Blog Archives: June 2018

The answer to the question “What is Presbytery?” is a bit complex. I could say “That’s where Don and Tom go to reconnect with pastor friends and other Presbyterian church leaders.” That’s very true, but it’s not quite saying enough.
The Greek word which we translate “elder” sounds like presbytery. Here is how it works in the Presbyterian Church in America. PCA churches in a region are grouped together so they can support one another in their mission of church planting, campus ministry, world missions, and other similar things. This is ...

Word of the Week: Picture
A picture’s worth a thousand words – or so the saying goes anyway. If a picture’s worth a thousand words, how much is it worth when you see something for yourself? Five thousand words? Ten thousand? A hundred thousand?
I went on vacation a few weeks ago on the west coast. While I was on this trip, I got to see many beautiful sights. I saw the spectacular ocean views in San Diego. I saw the towering Redwood trees in northern California. I saw the titanic Mount Rainer in Seattle. Of course, I took pictures…but each ...

Have you ever heard someone tell a good story? On the drive to Atlanta, Pastor Don and I listened to the first season of Serial, a podcast that revisits an old murder case in Baltimore. The evidence is unclear and we were riding an emotional roller coaster the whole time. First we’d be convinced he did it, only to be thrown into doubt one episode later. We went back and forth like this for hours. The story was riveting – and we were hooked.
Jesus was a master storyteller. The Gospels give us many accounts of audiences hanging on his every ...

Word of the Week: Private
And if your brother sins, go and reprove him in private; if he listens to you, you have won your brother. (Matthew 18:15)
In the New American Standard Version of Matthew 18:15, Jesus commands us to tell our brother about his sin in private. I mentioned on Sunday (June 17, 2018) about online attacks against church leaders in our denomination by various people, many of whom are likely members of our churches. The danger of the new graffiti surface called social media is that it is so easy to blast off against ...

Two leadership maxims come to mind when I think of the word “elder.” “Leadership is everything - everything rises and falls on leadership.” This reminds us of just how critical leadership selection is. Great leaders cause a church to rise and reach her true calling, poor leaders hinder that calling and create many troubles.
The second maxim is also important: “Character trumps everything.” In other words, a leader who is very gifted but of suspect character will cause many problems. One minute they will be putting people in awe with their ...

Word of the week: Changes!
Changes. Are you a change person or a non-change person? There are both types in every organization! I know I can be mixed on that - I don’t like changes when things are working great but I am sometimes too quick to make a change when they are not.
As mentioned last Sunday, after the elders spent some of their last two meetings evaluating our two-service format, they have decided to make a change. This fall, we will be at one service. We believe we will be much better together in everything we do as a church....

My favorite part of summer is books. I’m sure that comes as no great surprise to anyone. Summer brings with it a different pace, offering a bit more margin for relaxation. It brings more travel, spending more time on the road or sitting in an airport. And between those two things, it typically offers a bit more time for reading.
So as we go into reading season…I mean, summer…I have a few recommendations I want to pass along for your reading pleasure.
When Helping Hurts by Steve Corbett and Brian Fikkert – You pull up to a red light....

Word of the Week: Voice
America LOVES singing. Think of the popularity of shows like The Voice, American Idol, and America’s Got Talent. Some people have become famous overnight because of their fabulous singing voices. I get it! I get sucked in once in a while to hear someone whose voice is fabulous all by itself.
Christian worship isn’t about one voice. We are of course blessed at Grace to have some great vocalists to lead us in worship. It’s the voices of all the people that are the real highlight of great worship - when all the saints ...